qizi / 52
Never before had any single scene shook Ying Feng as much as this one did—to the extent that after gazing intently at the person in front of him for so long, he’d even forgotten why he called out to him in the first place. It even caused Ling Xiao, who had waited quite a while, to straight up ask: “What did you call me for?”
Ying Feng was unaware of his own strange behavior, and instead asked:
“Why are you smiling?”
“I’m smiling?” Ling Xiao touched the corner of his mouth—it appeared to be true. “I don’t know why I am either. Once I came in, everything felt especially at peace and I couldn’t help being like this.”
“That is God’s power. God can calm our souls, and everyone who enters the church will receive God’s grace.”
A steady voice emerged from the other side of the church. The two of them looked over, and saw a person dressed like a priest come out from a narrow door to the side. Once a Tianxiu person becomes an adult, it’s hard to tell their age, but this person’s eyes unveiled his experience. One could tell that many years have passed in his life, leaving invisible traces on his unaging appearance.
He walked over, carefully examining the two, “This is the first time either of you have come, how can I help?”
“Ah,” Ling Xiao promptly held out the book in his hands. “I’m from Bikong. Our principal asked us to hand this book over to Ling Xing, saying that it’s his.”
The priest probably hadn’t heard anyone speak of this name in a very long time, so once he heard it, he looked distracted. He slowly reached out his hands to receive it.
He flipped it open to the first page. With blank eyes and an apathetic expression, he found the familiar face.
“Yes, this is his graduation album. I heard him mention it once. He wanted to go retrieve it, but because of some matters, he couldn’t go. It’s hard to believe that after so long, there’s still someone who’ll come deliver it.”
He lifted his head up and gazed towards Ling Xiao, but it looked as if the one he saw was not him, “Many years ago when I first saw him, he stood in the same spot as you now. Back then, he was in a terrible place, and even God couldn’t alleviate his shadows. Although alive, he seemed half dead.”
“Back then, he had already left school. Since I saw he had nowhere else to go, I let him live here and trained him to learn God’s will. It was God who brought him back from the brink of death. Not only did he grow livelier day by day, he also overcame his past and even went on to help many others who were suffering break out of their haze, earning the reverence of many.”
“If we must speak of any regrets he had, it would most likely be that the incident had too much impact on him, so after all that time, he was never able to accept the Adult Ceremony. Even at 80 years in Nestling stage, he was unwilling.”
Ling Xiao quietly eyed Ying Feng. He was also listening earnestly.
“Can we take a look at where he once lived?”
The priest closed the book and said, “Follow me.”
Ling Xiao and Ying Feng followed the priest, passing back through the narrow door and arriving at the church’s inner rooms.
“His bedroom is very small. Because of spiritual enrichment, we do not need many physical possessions to be content.” After he spoke, he pushed open one of the doors, and as expected, a very small room appeared in front of them.
Although the room was small, the various things in it were arranged in a neat and orderly manner, making one feel as though it was neither crude nor crowded.
“I regularly tidy the room so it’s very clean. Please sit wherever you’d like.”
Ling Xiao inspected the room: one double bunk bed, one two-person desk, two chairs—just these practically occupied the whole space. Apart from these items, there was a bookshelf carved out from the wall and its shelves were filled to the brim with books.
“You lived together?” He asked, curious.
“Ah, no,” the priest followed his line of sight, arriving at the double bunk bed. “My room is not here.”
“Then did he have some other roommate?”
The priest slowly stroked the edge of the upper bunk bed, “This bed was only added on later. An unusual person used to live here.”
“Unusual?”
“Guxing?” Ling Xiao didn’t know what that meant.
Ying Feng, who had not said a word since entering the room, took over the conversation, “Guxing is a rarely seen type of mental illness. Those who are called Guxing will demonstrate atavistic behavior, won’t have human emotions, and definitely won’t be able to empathize with others. Therefore, their spirits have neither sympathy nor mercy, only obedience, and as long as they receive an order, even if the opponent has no ability to resist, they will kill them without hesitation.”
“It’s likely that you don’t understand what the true meaning of nurture is. Religion in Tianxiu is classified as a completely foreign culture, and in order to study God’s decree, there was a time when I overcame soul traction to visit many nearby planets. In the composition of their societies, every single Nestling was cared and raised by a family, and all matters, big or small, were taught in detail. This does not exist in our species.”
“But Ling Xing did it. As a Nestling himself, he meticulously raised another Nestling, teaching him what was right, what was wrong, what was acceptable, and what was not, and how to use the feelings of an ordinary person to reflect. He also taught him to understand the feelings of others. In the eyes of Tianxiu people who can never comprehend the feelings of familial love, it was like they were a genuine family, living together as one elder, one youth.”
The priest raised his head, “The books you see here are all gathered by Ling Xing to help him study human culture. He said that although Guxing couldn’t ever understand human emotions, he can at least go through books to learn humanity’s rules and regulations. Due to his influence, that person formed a habit of reading. Whatever matters he didn’t understand, he would go seek answers from books.”
Ling Xiao’s sight landed on the bookshelf, then shifted down to the desk, as if he saw two backs sitting at the table in front of him: one person was reciting a book for the other, and from time to time, the other would ask questions, and the one would stop, explaining its contents to him.
“Just before you stepped inside, you must have seen the courtyard’s plants and flowers. Ling Xing asked him to bring back some seeds from every planet he visited. In the agreement between the church and the military, Guxing must follow the military on a campaign once a year in order to learn combat skills as early as possible. Moreover, Guxing do not possess soul traction, so he often traveled to other stars alone. Ling Xing wanted him to bring local seeds back from every place he went, hoping that this way, he would understand that other planets do not just have resources and massacres but also that such beautiful lives exist.”
“So why was Ling Xing later put to death?” Ling Xiao was more and more confused. If Ling Xing was as great as the priest told, why was he sentenced to death?
The priest’s expression grew heavy, “I frequently left for Linxing to study their doctrines that year, and when I returned, the two of them were already missing. I couldn’t find them even after exhausting all means.”
“The church believes this matter is related to the military, but the military was unwilling to admit it until news that Ling Xing was secretly assassinated was leaked. Under public pressure, the military publicly announced that he was not assassinated, but rather, was given the death penalty.”
“But wasn’t he still a Nestling,” Ling Xiao firmly kept this point in mind, “Don’t they say the soul scatters when a Nestling dies?”
“Correct,” the priest suddenly became a bit resentful, “That’s why the law does not permit the death penalty for Nestlings at all. So, the military reported that at the time of his execution, he was no longer a Nestling, but they were unable to provide any evidence that he became an adult. They were also unwilling to publicize the identity of his partner. Because of this matter, the conflict between the church and military reached its peak, and after so many years, it still remains unresolved.”
“Then what about the Guxing he raised?”
“I don’t know. He completely disappeared along with Ling Xing, and we couldn’t obtain any news about him at all. It’s possible he may have been hidden away by the military as a secret weapon, so we don’t know which planet he’s fighting on now.” He continued indignantly, “They have always been this way. War is their sole purpose for existence, and one day, God will punish them for every one of their sins.”
Ling Xiao and Ying Feng looked at each other, “I heard he committed treason, what exactly did he do?”
The priest’s mood gradually eased up, “He stole a seed.”
“A seed?”
“A seed from the Tree of Souls.”
Ling Xiao thought of the Tree of Souls he saw at the Base, then asked, “Why did he steal the seed?”
“Actually, in order to overcome soul traction and expand our territories, the military has long tried to establish soul lighthouses on outer planets but these structures were unable to function properly and had no effect. Afterwards, a researcher discovered that the lighthouse and tree were one entity, so only when it was near the Tree of Souls would the lighthouse light up. The lighthouse without the tree is merely a decoration.”
Ling Xiao heard him mention the term “soul traction” three times already, but since he still didn’t know much about it, he sent an inquisitive look to Ying Feng with his eyes, and the latter briefly reiterated the knowledge he received from Fu Yao.
“That’s right,” the priest finished listening to his explanation, and while nodding, said, “Tianxiu people of today have different degrees of soul traction while in ancient times people had no reason to mull over this problem. From the perspective of the doctrines, it is God who hindered our limitless conquest, using this method to lessen our sins.”
“It takes several thousand years for the Tree of Souls to produce one seed. Some people predict that the current Tree of Souls has already entered its late life stage because fewer and fewer souls are growing above, and one day sooner or later, they will cease to grow, so a new Tree of Souls will need to replace it. But the military ridiculously insists on planting the seed on a foreign planet, and in this mission of fully maximizing its range, there is no person better suited than a person with no soul traction who can plant the seed at a distant planet and coerce its local residents to construct the lighthouse. With this, they’ll have obtained twice the surface area to perform their operations.”
“A person with no soul traction? Is that Guxing?”
“Correct. That’s why the military assigned this mission to him but Ling Xing was one step ahead and intercepted the plan. Even now, I do not think what he did was wrong. He violated the doctrine by stealing but saved countless innocent lives and spared our citizens from needless slaughter. Through the fault of one person, all living things benefitted.”
“So where is the seed that he stole now?”
The priest shook his head, “I don’t know. People from the military also searched here many times, and no matter how they search, they can’t find the whereabouts of the seed. With Ling Xing sentenced to death, this matter remains an unsolved mystery.”
Ling Xiao and him have already been here for a long time, so when they turned to leave, the priest personally saw them off outside the door. They once again passed through the flourishing bright courtyard; it seemed as though every flower stood out with a different significance.
“It’s already been so long since I’ve talked with anyone about Ling Xing, I’m glad someone still remembers him. Our souls are naturally predisposed to be warlike, but faith will help heal us. Military force should be used for protection, not invasion, and I hope even more youths will come to understand this. You are all welcome to visit more often.”
Before they returned, Ling Xiao tactfully expressed his desire to pilot and unexpectedly, Ying Feng did not stop him from doing so, and even took the initiative to sit in the passenger seat.
Along the way, Ling Xiao felt that there was someone who was attentively watching him this whole time. Everytime he turned his head, he would meet Ying Feng’s eyes and notice he was a bit unnatural.
“I really won’t drive recklessly,” he expressed, “Even if I was antsy, I stayed at the church just now so I’m pretty calm.”
Ying Feng silently turned his head. He didn’t want to say that that was not the reason he was staring.
The irresponsible Ling Xiao just thought Ying Feng was acting weird after visiting the church and it never occurred to him to think about where this behavior came from, nor reflect on the many times Ying Feng looked at him meaningfully.
“Where do you think Ling Xing hid the seed?”
Ying Feng was distracted so he carelessly answered, “Don’t know, what about you?”
“If I were him, I’d probably leave it to someone important to safekeep,” Ling Xiao thought.
“The important someone could only be the priest but I trust he didn’t tell us any lies. He didn’t know where the seed is.”
“That’s hard to say, isn’t Guxing also an important person to him?”
“He stole the seed from him so how could he hand it back for safekeeping?”
Ling Xiao realized his own paradox and awkwardly rubbed his nose, “Then I guessed wrong.”
But after Ling Xiao finished this sentence, he thought: besides the priest and Guxing, who else can he give the seed to?
When the two of them returned to the campus, it was already evening. Sharp-eyed, Ling Xiao spotted a familiar person entering the dormitory building.
“Is that Zhen He? What’s he doing here at the tenth grade dorm?”
Ying Feng frowned once he heard this name, “Don’t know. Stay away from him, they aren’t up to anything good.”
They deliberately slowed down. The pair of legs in front of them was pulled further away—Zhu Yue opened the door, alertly inspecting the corridor, and when he confirmed that no one else was around, he got out of the way and left the small crack for Zhen He to come in.
“I brought out the thing. This is a full service, a buy one, get one.” Zhen He took out the two portable hypodermic syringes; the liquid inside one of them was a bright orange while the other was transparent.
Once he finished explaining, he placed the syringes on the tabletop; he wasn’t worried at all whether the other party would go back on the deal. To him, Zhu Yue was someone he could kill with a press of his pinky, so to take any precautions against him was superfluous.
After Zhu Yue listened to the introduction, he silently took out the calming soul stone from the same location as yesterday and handed it over to him as agreed. Zhen He was very satisfied with his behavior. He heard the Kui’s calming soul stone was missing and that the military was anxiously looking for it. Who would have thought that it was stealthily hidden away by this kind of good-for-nothing? It seems like he still had a lot of guts even though his abilities weren’t great.
Zhen He admiringly appreciated the mysterious ore in his hands. There was a legend about the calming soul stone—it could awaken one’s earliest and most ancient memories but it is unknown whether this legend was real or fake.
But if it was real…Zhen He abruptly realized there was a matter he overlooked—if these rumors were true, then wouldn’t Zhu Yue…?
Zhu Yue quietly picked up the orange-colored dose—so this was the thing Ling Xiao stole from the base. This was the thing he relied on to defeat the Kui, the thing that entangled him with Ying Feng.
“This really is Embers 2.0? Let’s try it out.”
What?
It dawned on Zhen He that things were not good, and in a flash, he turned around only to see Zhu Yue finish injecting the last drop of the drug into his body, his eyes flashing red, and after a low growl, expose the sharp canines in his mouth.
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